Multi-service vpn network client for mobile device having integrated acceleration

ABSTRACT

An integrated, multi-service virtual private network (VPN) network client for cellular mobile devices is described. The multi-service network client can be deployed as a single software package on cellular mobile network devices to provide integrated services including secure enterprise VPN connectivity, acceleration, security management including monitored and enforced endpoint compliance, and collaboration services. The multi-service client integrates with an operating system of the device to provide a VPN handler to establish a VPN connection with a remote VPN security device. The VPN network client includes to data acceleration module exchange network packets with the VPN handler and apply at least one acceleration service to the network packets, and a VPN control application that provides a unified user interface that allows a user to configure both the VPN handler and the data acceleration module.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication 61/398,758 filed Jun. 30, 2010, the entire content of whichis incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to cellular networks and, more particularly, tocellular-based network data services.

BACKGROUND

Use of cellular mobile devices for accessing computer data networks hasrecently increased dramatically. These mobile devices, often referred toas “smart” phones, provide a platform for both cellular phone calls andcellular-based access to computer data services. For example, a typicalcellular radio access network is a collection of cells that each includebase stations capable of transmitting and relaying radio signals tosubscribers' mobile devices. A “cell” generally denotes a distinct areaof a cellular network that utilizes a particular frequency or range offrequencies for transmission of data. A typical base station is a towerto which are affixed a number of antennas that transmit and receive thedata over the particular frequency. Mobile devices may transmit radiosignals at the designated frequency to the base stations to initiatecellular telephone calls or packet-based data services.

With respect to data services, cellular service providers convert thecellular signals, e.g., Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) signals,Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signals or CodeDivision Multiple Access (CDMA) signals, received from mobile devices atthe base stations into Internet protocol (IP) packets for transmissionwithin packet-based networks.

The ubiquitous use of cellular mobile devices and the ever increasingdesire by users for fast, secure network access from around the worldhas presented many challenges for enterprises. Enabling even basicconnectivity across all desired cellular mobile device platforms can bea huge challenge. Enabling secure connectivity with an easy end-userexperience can be even more challenging. For example, the dramaticincrease in use of cellular mobile devices for computer data serviceshas exposed service providers and enterprise networks to increasedsecurity risks presented by misconfigured devices. Because users oftenlack technical experience, endpoint devices, including cellular mobiledevices, often become misconfigured. That is, users may accidentallyinstall viruses, spyware, or other software that can potentially damagethe functionality of the endpoint device or compromise the security ofthe computer network to which the endpoint is coupled. Once affected,endpoint devices can inadvertently spread malicious software to theservers and possibly to other endpoint devices. As numerous differentendpoint security and connectivity software applications are added toeach end user mobile device, the potential for problems and networkconflicts increases. It is currently very difficult for informationtechnology (IT) staff to enable network connectivity for users from anydevice, at any time, from virtually anywhere, without requiringsignificant end-user interaction with complex technologies.

SUMMARY

In general, an integrated, multi-service network client for cellularmobile devices is described. For example, techniques are described bywhich a single software package can be easily deployed on mobile networkdevices to provide integrated secure enterprise virtual private network(VPN) connectivity, network acceleration, security management includingmonitored and enforced endpoint compliance, and collaboration services.The integrated, multi-service client may be deployed as a single packagedownloadable from a standard application (“app”) deployment mechanism,such as an electronic store or other repository for user applications,provided by a manufacturer of a mobile device.

Once installed on the cellular mobile device, the multi-service clientintegrates with an operating system of the device so as to provide asingle entry point for user authentication for secure enterpriseconnectivity, endpoint security services including endpoint compliancewith respect to anti-virus and spyware software, acceleration, andcomprehensive integrity checks. The multi-service client provides acommon user interface to the integrated services, and provides a VPNhandler that operates as the entry point for network traffic to whichthe integrated services are to be applied. The multi-service clientallows enterprise and service provider IT staff to reduce the number ofsoftware agents required and installed on employee devices, thusminimizing potential software conflicts and reducing deployment costs.Further, if additional software, add-ons, or other capabilities arerequired for a connection, the multi-service network client mayautomatically download and installs those components without any enduser or administrator interaction.

In this way, the multi-service network client described herein mayintegrate several services into one, comprehensive, multi-serviceclient, thus simplifying maintenance, administration, and deployment ofnetwork clients. Enterprises may no longer have to deal with separatelymanaged and administered agents. Moreover, the techniques may simplifyend user experience and reduce help desk time and administrativeexpense.

In one embodiment, a cellular mobile device comprises a transmitter andreceiver to send and receive cellular communications in the form ofradio frequency signals, a microprocessor, and an operating systemexecuting on the microprocessor to provide an operating environment ofapplication software. The cellular mobile device further comprises amulti-service client registered with the operating system as a singleapplication. The multi-service network client comprises a VPN handler toestablish a VPN connection with a remote VPN security device, whereinthe VPN handler encrypts outbound network packets and decrypts inboundnetwork packets to securely tunnel the network packets between thecellular mobile device and the remote VPN security device. Themulti-service network client further includes a data acceleration modulethat exchanges network packets with the VPN handler and applies at leastone acceleration service to the network packets, and a VPN controlapplication that provides a unified user interface that allows a user toconfigure the VPN handler and the data acceleration module.

In another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores adownloadable distribution package comprising software program code toexecute a multi-service network client on a processor within a cellulardevice. The multi-service network client comprises a virtual privatenetwork (VPN) handler to establish a VPN connection with a remote VPNsecurity device, wherein the VPN handler encrypts outbound networkpackets and decrypts inbound network packets to securely tunnel thenetwork packets between the cellular mobile device and the remote VPNsecurity device. The multi-service network client further includes adata acceleration module that exchanges network packets with the VPNhandler and applies at least one acceleration service to the networkpackets, and a VPN control application that provides a unified userinterface that allows a user to configure both the VPN handler and thedata acceleration module.

The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth inthe accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features,objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thedescription and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example system in which asecure VPN gateway of an enterprise provides secure access to protectedresources of an enterprise network for both endpoint computing devicesand cellular mobile devices.

FIG. 2 shows an example login web page presented to the user via the webbrowser when accessing the secure VPN gateway via an endpoint computingdevice.

FIG. 3 shows an example user home web page presented to the user via theweb browser when accessing the secure VPN gateway via an endpointcomputing device.

FIG. 4A is a block diagram of an example embodiment of a cellular mobiledevice having a multi-service network client in accordance with thetechniques described herein.

FIG. 4B is a block diagram of a second example embodiment of a cellularmobile device a multi-service network client in accordance with thetechniques described herein.

FIG. 4C is another block diagram of the computing system of FIG. 1 andshows the example mobile devices utilizing multi-service network clientfor both enterprise connectivity and non-enterprise connectivity.

FIGS. 5-14 are schematic diagrams illustrating a front view of oneembodiment of a cellular mobile device and show a number of displayspresented by the multi-service network client deployed on the cellularmobile device.

FIG. 15 is an example user interface 190 presented by secure VPNgateway.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example system 10 in whichsecure VPN gateway 12 provides secure access to protected resources 14of enterprise network 16. That is, secure VPN gateway 12 enables secureand controlled access to resources provided by enterprise network 16.For example, endpoint computing devices (“ECDs”) 18A-18M and cellularmobile devices 19A-18N remotely access enterprise network 16 via serviceprovider network 20 and an intermediate packet data network 21, such asthe Internet.

In one example, secure VPN gateway 12 is a secure sockets layer VPN (SSLVPN) device that provides VPN services to clients. Further details onSSL VPN appliances and operations are found in “Juniper Networks SecureAccess Administration Guide, Release 6.5,” Juniper Networks, Inc., 2008,which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Secure VPNgateway 12 may be a standalone appliance or may be hosted on one or moreother devices, such as an intrusion detection and prevention (IDP)system, a firewall, a unified threat management (UTM) device, a router,or other network device.

Enterprise network 16 provides access to sensitive data and servicesthat are accessible only to certain authorized users of the enterprise.The users may access enterprise network 16 by authentication to secureVPN gateway 12 and establishing a communication channel through serviceprovider network 20. In this way, enterprise administrators may usesecure VPN gateway 12 to discriminate access to enterprise network 16 byindividual employees based on employee authorization. In this way,system 10 enables remote access to protected resources 14 of enterprisenetwork 16. Each of protected resources 14 may be, for instance, a webserver, an application server, a database server, a file server, anapplication, an employee workstation, a native messaging or emailclient, or other electronic resource.

In this example, endpoint computing devices 18 may be personalcomputers, laptop computers or other type of computing device associatedwith individual employees or other authorized users. In contrast,cellular mobile devices 19 provide a platform for both cellular phonecalls and cellular-based access to computer data services. That is, eachof mobile devices 19 is a wireless communication device capable ofcellular communications. Mobile devices 19 may comprise, for example, amobile telephone, a laptop or desktop computer having, e.g., a 3Gwireless card, a wireless-capable netbook, a video game device, a pager,a smart phone, or a personal data assistant (PDA). Each of mobiledevices 19 may run one or more applications, such as mobile calls, videogames, videoconferencing, and email, among others.

Service provider network 20 also provides network access, data transportand other services to mobile devices 19. Service provider network 20includes radio access network 25 in which one or more base stationscommunicate via radio signals with mobile devices 19. Backhaul network(“BN”) 27 is a transport network that enables base stations of radioaccess network to exchange packetized data with mobile core network 31of the service provider, ultimately for communication with broadbandnetwork 29 and packet data network 21. Backhaul network 27 typicallycomprises communication nodes interconnected by communication links,such as leased land-lines or point-to-point microwave connection. Thecommunication nodes comprise network, aggregation, and switchingelements that execute one or more protocols to route packets betweenbase stations and gateway device (“GW”) 28 of mobile core network 31. Invarious aspects, backhaul network 27 may comprise a GSM radio accessnetwork (GRAN) or a Universal Mobile Telephony Service (UMTS)terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) operating according torespective radio access network standards set forth by the relevantstandards-setting body (e.g., 3GPP).

Mobile core network 31 provides session management, mobility management,and transport services between backhaul network 27 and broadband network29 to support access, by mobile devices 19, to packet data network 21and services of protected resources 14. Mobile core network 31 maycomprise, for instance, a general packet radio service (GPRS) corepacked-switched network, a GPRS core circuit-switched network, anIP-based mobile multimedia core network, or another type of transportnetwork. Mobile core network 7 comprises one or more packet processingnodes to support firewall, load balancing, billing, deep-packetinspection (DPI), and other services for mobile traffic traversing themobile core network.

In the example of FIG. 1, endpoint computing devices 18 connect tonetwork access device 36 via network switch 38. In one embodiment,network switch 38 may comprise digital subscriber line accessmultiplexers (DSLAMs) or other switching device. Each of endpointcomputing devices 18 may utilize a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), suchas PPP over ATM or PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE), to communicate withnetwork switch 38. For example, using PPP, one of endpoint computingdevices 18 may request access to broadband network 29 and provide logininformation, such as a username and password, for authentication byauthentication device (“AD”) 30. PPP may be supported on lines such asdigital subscriber lines (DSLs) that connect endpoint computing devices18 with network switch 38. In other embodiments, endpoint computingdevices 18 may utilize a non-PPP protocol to communicate with networkswitch 38. Other embodiments may use other lines besides DSL lines, suchas Ethernet over a T1, T3 or other access link.

Network switch 38 may communicate with network access device 36 over aphysical interface supporting various protocols, e.g., ATM interfacesupporting ATM protocols. Network access device 36 typically includesBroadband Remote Access Server (BRAS) functionality to aggregate outputfrom switches into a higher-speed uplink to broadband network 29. Insome embodiments, network access device 36 may comprise a router thatmaintains routing information between endpoint computing devices 18 andbroadband network 29.

Secure VPN gateway 12 intermediates access by endpoint computing devices18 and mobile devices 19 to protected resources 14. In one example,secure VPN gateway 12 terminates incoming access requests andconnections at the application layer of the Open System Interconnection(OSI) reference model or of the TCP/IP model. In this example, secureVPN gateway 12 operates as an application-layer proxy to protectprotected resources 14 from direct exposure to packet data network 21.Secure VPN gateway 12 receives incoming access requests encapsulated ina packet, decapsulates the access requests to reach the underlyingapplication data, and sends the application data comprising the accessrequests to requested protected resources 14.

In another example, secure VPN gateway 12 allows direct connectionsbetween layers of the OSI reference model or of the TCP/IP model. Inthis example, secure VPN gateway 12 exchanges data using a securechannel negotiated with the requesting one of endpoint computing devices18 or mobile devices 19. Secure VPN gateway 12 receives a secure requestvia the secure channel and makes requests to the appropriate one ofprotected resources 14 on behalf of the requesting client to establish adata connection between the requesting device and the requestedprotected resource 14.

To access protected resources 14 within enterprise network 16, anendpoint computing device 18 or a mobile device 19 establishes a dataconnection to secure VPN gateway 12. Each of the data connections maycomprise, for example, a secure data connection conforming to a securityscheme, such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or Internet Protocol Security(IPSec) protocols. That is, an SSL VPN may be used to tunnel IP packetson top of a Layer 4 connection oriented protocol, e.g., TransmissionControl Protocol (TCP). Alternatively, an IPSec VPN may be establishedto tunnel encrypted IP packets, i.e., Encapsulation Security Payload(ESP) packets, on top of a connection-less protocol, e.g., IP or UserDatagram Protocol (UDP).

In either case, secure VPN gateway 12 may require user credentials toestablish authentication and authorization. Credentials may include, forexample, a username-password pair, a biometric identifier, a data storedon a smart card, a one-time password token or a digital certificate.Based on the provided credentials, secure VPN gateway 12 authorizes ordenies access to enterprise network 16. Secure VPN gateway 12 may use anauthentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) server toauthenticate the credentials. The AAA server may execute on secure VPNgateway 12 or on a separate network device and may be, for example, aRemote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) server. Secure VPNgateway 12 and the remote device may also negotiate other aspects ofdata connection 14 that ensure security, including the type/version ofan encryption algorithm, and symmetric keys for encrypting/decryptiondata transported via data connection 14.

When accessing enterprise network 16, a user associated with one ofendpoint computing devices 18 may direct a web browser executing on theendpoint computing device to an address Uniform Resource Locator (URL)associated with the enterprise. In this case, secure VPN gateway 12presents a web page on the endpoint computing device via the web browserto capture the credentials required from the user.

FIG. 2 shows an example login web page presented to the user via the webbrowser when accessing secure VPN gateway 12 via an endpoint computingdevice 18. Upon proper authentication, secure VPN gateway 12 presents adefault user home web page on the endpoint computing device via the webbrowser.

FIG. 3 shows an example user home web page presented to the user via theweb browser when accessing secure VPN gateway 12 via an endpointcomputing device 18. As shown in FIG. 3, the web page presents a list ofbookmarks that allow the user to easily navigate protected resources 14using HTTP links In this example, FIG. 3 shows a first link 42 to anintranet file server provided by the enterprise and a second link 44 toenterprise web mail for the user.

As described herein, cellular mobile devices 19 each include amulti-service network client that, among other services, allows secureVPN connection to easily be provisioned and established over radioaccess network 25 of service provider network 20. Other applicationsrunning on mobile devices 19 may utilize the VPN connections to accessservices offered by protected resources 14. That is, cellular mobiledevices 19 and secure VPN gateway 12 provide secure VPN services toapplications running on the mobile device. In one example, each mobiledevice 19 includes a secure access application that provides integrated,anytime/anywhere connectivity, acceleration, and security in a mannerthat simplifies user experience. For example, upon downloading thesecure access application, users of mobile devices 19 may no longer needto interact with network access and security software. From anylocation, users simply supply their credentials and the secure accessapplication interacts with secure VPN gateway 12 to handle allprovisioning and deployment. As such, the secure access software onmobile devices 19 enables fast, easy, secure access to corporatenetworked and cloud-based data and applications from mobile devices andsmart phones. Enterprises and service providers can deploy granular roleand device-based security policies when provisioning mobile handsetaccess. In one example, the secure access software on mobile devices 19provides a single, unified client for VPN remote access, WANacceleration, and endpoint compliance. The secure access software mayeliminate the expense and administrative burden of deploying,configuring, and maintaining separate clients. In some cases, the secureaccess software on mobile devices 19 may use location-aware intelligentsession migration to deliver accelerated, secure, anytime/anywherenetwork and application access automatically. For example, the softwaremay seamlessly migrate from one access method to another based on theuser's location, and accelerates secure access to network resourcesbased on user identity and role.

FIG. 4A is a block diagram of an example embodiment of mobile device 19that operates in accordance with the techniques described herein. Inthis example, mobile device 19 includes a hardware 62 that provides corefunctionality for operation of the device. Hardware 62 may include oneor more programmable microprocessors 70 configured to operate accordingto executable instructions (i.e., program code), typically stored in acomputer-readable medium such as static, random-access memory (SRAM)device or Flash memory device. Transmitter 72 and receiver 74communicate with other communication devices via a wirelesscommunication, such as high-frequency radio frequency (RF) signals.Hardware 62 may include additional discrete digital logic or analogcircuitry.

Operating system 64 executes on microprocessor 70 and provides anoperating environment for one or more applications (commonly referred to“apps”). O/S interface 66 proves an interface layer of software capableof making kernel calls into operating system 64. In other words, O/Sinterface 66 provides a framework within which VPN handler 68 operatesand may, for example, allow VPN handler 68 to execute within a “user”space of the operating environment provided by mobile device 19. O/Sinterface 66 may allow other forms of protocol handlers to be “pluggedin” for interfacing with operating system 64. O/S interface 66 interactswith operating system 64 to provide OS-level support forprotocol-specific handlers. O/S interface 66 may, for example, provideaccess to lower levels of the OSI stack for routing packets to and fromthe VPN connection, ensuring DNS resolvers are set correctly for theVPN, and the like. As shown in FIG. 4A, O/S interface 66 routes inboundlow-level packets and outbound application-layer communications to VPNhandler 68 for processing. At this time, VPN handler 68 registers withoperating system 64 to provides a single point of entry for networktraffic so as to transparently apply VPN services and security serviceswithout requiring registration of multiple agents with operating system64 or separate administration of those agents.

In some cases, executable code for VPN handler 68, VPN controlapplication 80 and security manager 84 may be distributed as a singledistribution package 67 that is downloadable from a standard “app”deployment mechanism, such as provided by a server associated with anelectronic store or other repository for user applications, provided bya manufacturer of mobile device 19. That is, VPN handler 68, VPN controlapplication 80 and security manager 84 may be integrated into amulti-service client for mobile device 19 to allow easy deployment. Anapplication management utility on the cellular mobile device may, forexample, issue a request to the server and, in response receivedistribution package for processing and installation on the mobiledevice.

VPN handler 68 provides all low-level communication handling for accessto enterprise network 16 via secure VPN gateway 12. For example, VPNhandler 68 handles interaction and authentication to VPN gateway 12,establishment and deconstructing of a secure data connection conformingto a security scheme, such as SSL or IPSec protocols, and the formationof encrypted outbound packets to be tunneled and the processing ofinbound packets to decrypt those packets received from the tunnel. Inone embodiment, VPN handler 68 supports both SSL and IPSec protocolsand, as described in further detail below, may intelligently anddynamically switch between the two depending upon the state of the VPNconnection to VPN gateway 12.

VPN control application 80 provides user interface by which a user isable to configure and manage VPN handler 68 as well as other servicesintegrated within the multi-service client, including security manager84. For example, VPN control application 80 allows a user to submitcredentials and instruct VPN handler 68 to dynamically instantiate asecure VPN connection with secure VPN gateway 12 or deconstruct anexisting VPN connection.

In one embodiment, VPN control application 80 provides an interface thattranslates communications with secure VPN gateway 12 such that theinformation typically available to the user over a web browser (e.g.,FIGS. 2 and 3 described above), are dynamically rendered in a userinterface presentable in native format on mobile device 19. In otherwords, in this example, VPN control application 80 may dynamically parseHTML links and other information from Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure(HTTPS) responses from secure VPN gateway 12 and render a windowsuitable for display on mobile device 19 using input mechanisms (e.g.,icons, radio buttons) native to the device.

Upon creation of a secure VPN connection with secure VPN gateway 12, theuser can interact directly with the U/I of VPN handler 68 as if the userwhere accessing his or her default web page normally presented by VPNgateway 12 via an HTML web page. For example, the user may interact withVPN handler 68 to select icons that have been dynamically constructed tocorrespond to the HTML bookmarks of the user's home web page. The usercan, for example, engage an input button corresponding to anadministrator-defined link 44 to access web mail as if the user wasusing a web browser. However, instead of viewing the mail via a webbrowser when accessing VPN gateway 12 via an endpoint computing device18, VPN handler 68 may launch an email application provided by, and thusnative to, mobile device 19 as if the email bookmark with the web-basedhome page were selected by the user.

In addition to using VPN handler 68, the user is able to launch otherapplications 82 that may be deployed on mobile device 19 for accessingprotected resources 14 over the VPN connection. In this case, VPNhandler 68 receives application-layer data from user applications 82that has been redirected to the VPN handler via O/S interface 66. VPNhandler 68 encapsulates the application-layer data to secure packets fortunneling over the VPN connection, and returns the secure packets tooperating system 64 for output via transmitter 72 via radio signals. VPNhandler 68 receives inbound packets from operating system 64 that areassociated with the VPN connection, processes the secure packets toextract and reform application-layer data, and passes theapplication-layer data to user applications 82. In this way, VPN handler68 may be used as a single point of entry for secure enterprise accessfrom mobile devices and endpoint computing devices alike withoutrequiring separate support for different types of applications.

In one embodiment, VPN handler 68 maintains the VPN connection evenafter the VPN control application 80 quits. Thus, VPN controlapplication 80 need not be active to allow other user applications 82 toutilize the tunnel. VPN handler 68 may be configured to automaticallytear down the VPN connection in the event mobile device 19 is put tosleep. When mobile device 19 wakes up, VPN handler 68 automaticallybrings the VPN connection to an active state. In some cases, VPN handler68 monitors the amount of traffic flow on the VPN connection so as todetect idle VPN connections and automatically disconnect the VPNconnection after a user-configurable amount of idle time.

In some embodiments, VPN handler 68 registers a pre-defined, custom URLformat with operating system 64. When other user applications 82 invokeO/S interface 66 directly to “launch” a URL that conforms to thesespecial formats, operating system 64 automatically launches theapplication that registered the URL format. In one example, VPN handler68 registers a custom URL format with the following form:

-   -   junospulse://<server-host>/<server-path>?method={vpn}&action={start|stop}&DSID=<dsid-cookie>&SMSESSION=<smsession-cookie>.        When this URL is “launched” by another application 82, operating        system 64 loads VPN handler 68, if necessary, and invokes the        VPN handler with a call-back function that passes in the        specific URL. At this point, VPN handler 68 determines whether a        VPN connection is already established. If a VPN tunnel is not        currently established and the doConnect flag is ‘1’ then VPN        handler 68 automatically determines whether a VPN profile exists        with a URL that matches the URL received from operating system        64. If not, then VPN handler 68 automatically creates a new VPN        profile with the passed-in URL. If session cookies are specified        in the launch URL received from operating system 64, VPN handler        68 establishes the new VPN tunnel with the given session        cookies. If there are no session cookies specified in the launch        URL, VPN handler 68 accesses secure VPN gateway 12 in normal        course and the user is taken through the normal login process.        If VPN handler 68 confirms that a VPN tunnel is already        established and the “redirectOnConnected” of the launch URL is        set to ‘1’, VPN handler 68 may redirect execution to a web        browser application or other default one of applications 82 and        exit without tearing down the tunnel.

Security module 84 is a software thread provided by the multi-serviceclient that, when installed, is continuously executed in the backgroundby operation system 64 to provide certain security functions for mobiledevice 19. As one example, security manager 84 may provide anti-virusand spyware detection functions for mobile device, and VPN handler 68transparently shunts traffic to the security module for application ofthe security services. VPN control application 80 may provide a userinterface for configuring anti-virus settings, personal firewallsettings and other parameters associated with of the security module 84.

Furthermore, in accordance with the techniques described herein, VPNhandler 68 registers with security manager 84, and the security managerprovides up-to-date security information to the VPN handler. Moreover,VPN handler 68 may locally require active, registered anti-virus andspyware software and up-to-date virus definitions before allowing a VPNconnection to be established with VPN gateway 12. This local enforcementmay be controlled by policies received from VPN gateway 12 during thelogin and authentication process.

In some embodiments, VPN handler 68 incorporate a “host checker” modulethat inventories a state of mobile device 19, builds a health statusreport and passes the health status report to VPN gateway 12 at the timeof login for processing and determination as to whether mobile device 19is compliant with corporate policies. For example, VPN handler 86 maycollect and forward up-to-date “health information” to VPN gateway 12 atthe time establishment of the VPN connection is requested. In general,the term “health information” is used herein to generally refer to datathat describes a security state of mobile device 19. For example, thehealth information may describe whether the specific mobile devicecontains potentially malicious software (e.g. a known virus or spyware),whether the endpoint device has invalid configuration, or whetherapproved countermeasures (e.g., anti-virus software) have been properlyinstalled on the endpoint device. In some cases, VPN gateway 12 mayprevent access or allow limited access based on both the current healthinformation of mobile device 19 and the particular user that isrequesting the VPN connection. Further details of such techniques forcontrolling access based on health information of a mobile device can befound in U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 11/236,987, Filed Sep. 28,2005, entitled “NETWORK DEFENSE SYSTEM UTILIZING ENDPOINT HEALTHINDICATORS AND USER IDENTITY,” the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

Although deployed as a single package 67, VPN handler 68 and VPN controlapplication 80 are configured such that they may be independentlyupgraded. For example, the user may be able to upgrade both VPN handler68 and VPN control application 80 via retrieving the latest distributionpackage 67 from the electronic repository for user applications providedby the manufacturer of mobile device 19. In addition, the VPN handlermay be programmed so as to automatically upgrade itself uponestablishing a connection to a secure VPN gateway 12 in the event anewer version exists for the VPN handler and the secure VPN gateway thathas been configured to require that the mobile device has the newestversion of the handler. In this case, the new version of VPN handler 68will be downloaded directly from the secure VPN gateway 12 or a serverassociated with the VPN gateway.

In some cases, VPN control application 80 is programmed such that whenthe user launches the VPN control application for the first time, theVPN control application prompts the user with a security warning askingif he or she wishes to enable SSL-VPN functionality. This can be auseful security precaution to prevent malicious software from silentlyinstalling VPN software without the user's knowledge. If the userdeclines, VPN control application 80 may display a splash screen untilthe user quits the application. If the user accepts, the decision isrecorded until the device's memory is wiped.

FIG. 4B is a block diagram of a second example embodiment of mobiledevice 19 that operates in accordance with the techniques describedherein. In this example, mobile device 19 includes a distributionpackage 77 that provides a multi-service network client having VPNhandler 68, VPN control application 80, security manager 84,acceleration service 92, and collaboration services 94. Themulti-service network client may be distributed as a single distributionpackage 77 from a standard “app” deployment mechanism provided by amanufacturer of mobile device 19. In this way, distribution package 77provides an integrated, multi-service VPN client like distributionpackage 67 of FIG. 4A. In this example, similarly numbered componentsfunction as described with respect to FIG. 4B.

Acceleration service 92 of the multi-service network client providesintegrated data acceleration services for mobile device 19 and mayutilize a number of different acceleration techniques. VPN controlapplication 80 provides a unified user interface that allows a user toconfigure both VPN handler 68 and the acceleration service 92.

As a first example, acceleration service 92 may be configured to providea local, small-footprint content cache. In this case, accelerationservice 92 may cache content received in response to requests previouslyissued by VPN control application 80 or user applications 82 andretrieved from enterprise network 16 or, more generally, public datanetwork 21. VPN handler 68 may, for example, intercept HTTP or HTTPS getrequests and query acceleration service 92 to determine if the requestednetwork content is cached locally before encapsulating the requests inthe VPN tunnel and issuing the request to O/S interface 66 for output tosecure VPN gateway 12. If the content is not cached, VPN handler 68tunnels the request to secure VPN gateway 12 in normal course and, uponreceiving a response, updates the local content cache. VPN handler 68utilizes the content cache to service subsequent requests. In addition,acceleration service may be configured to interact with upstream cachesprovided by the service provider or the enterprise. In this manner,acceleration service 92 may increase the overall efficiency ofdownloading content from secure VPN gateway 12 or otherwise.

As a second example, acceleration service 92 may be configured toprovide a client-side decompression service that operates in conjunctionwith an upstream acceleration device that provides real-time, continuouspattern recognition and compression of data flows. For example, anupstream acceleration device may employ pattern recognition and anefficient compression algorithm that is capable of detecting andeliminating repeated phrases of variable length to provide continuousacceleration of a data stream. Acceleration service 92 may maintain aphrase dictionary that is synchronized with a phrase dictionary of theupstream device, and may utilize the phrase dictionary to rebuiltcompressed data streams from the upstream compression device. In thisway, transmission acceleration may be provided all the way to mobiledevice 19, including over the wireless transmission medium, withoutrequiring standalone downstream wan acceleration devices. Furtherexemplary details of continuous data compression using synchronizedupstream and downstream devices are described in U.S. Pat. No.6,856,651, Amit P. Singh, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INCREMENTALAND CONTINUOUS DATA COMPRESSION,” filed May 30, 2001, the entirecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

As a third example, acceleration service 92 may be configured to providetransparent application-specific protocol optimization to improvetransfer efficiencies for mobile device 19.

In some deployments, acceleration service 92 may be used with data flowsassociated between mobile device 19 and the remote enterprise network.For example, acceleration service 92 may operate as a client-sidecomponent that leverages server-side wan acceleration services deployedwithin secure VPN gateway 12 or within other acceleration devices ofenterprise network 16. However, use of acceleration service 92 is notlimited to enterprise VPN environments. For example, as furtherdiscussed with respect to FIG. 4C, acceleration service 92 may be usedin conjunction with acceleration devices deployed within serviceprovider network 20 for data flows that do not pass through the VPNconnection.

Collaboration components 94 provide an integrated package ofcollaborative applications that can be used in conjunction with any VPNconnection established by VPN handler 68 or in a non-enterpriseenvironment. As one example, collaboration components may providesoftware for network meetings, secure desktops, document sharing orother software that may aid the user in collaborating with others.

FIG. 4C is another block diagram of system 10 (FIG. 1) and shows themulti-service network client described herein deployed to two mobiledevices 19A and 19B. In this example, each of mobile devices 19A, 19Binclude distribution package 77 of FIG. 4B, and each have an integratednetwork client that provides a VPN handler, a VPN control application, asecurity manager, an acceleration service, and collaboration services.

In the example of FIG. 4C, VPN handler 68 executing on mobile device 19Bhas established VPN connection 95 with secure VPN gateway 112 ofenterprise network 16 in accordance with the techniques describedherein. Moreover, the VPN handler transparently invokes the integratedacceleration service 92 to provide compression and acceleration servicesfor VPN connection 95. Further, as shown in FIG. 4C, the accelerationservice of mobile device 19B operates in concert with upstreamacceleration device 98 of enterprise network 16 to provide for patternrecognition for WAN acceleration.

Further, in this example, mobile device 19A is utilized without anenterprise network and, in particular, without establishing a VPNconnection with a remote secure VPN gateway. In this case, the VPNhandler of the multi-service network client operates as a transparentfront-end for distributing packet flows to the acceleration service,security manager, and collaborative services that are integrated withindistribution package 77 without providing VPN tunneling services fordata flows 96. That is, the VPN handler need not establish a VPNconnection nor provide encryption/decryption services to the packetflows, but nevertheless seamlessly applies the other integrated servicesto data flows 96 between mobile device 19A and public resources 99accessible via packet data network 21, such as the Internet. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 4C, the VPN handler executing on mobile device19A still receives and send packets to an O/S interface and, at thistime, seamlessly routes the packets through the integrated accelerationservice (such as acceleration service 92 of FIG. 4B) to providecompression and acceleration services for data flows 96. Further, asshown in FIG. 4C, the acceleration service of mobile device 19A operatesin concert with upstream acceleration device 97 of service providernetwork 20 to provide for pattern recognition for WAN acceleration. Inaddition, the acceleration service may provide a content cache, filecompression and other services. Similarly, the VPN client of mobiledevice 19A integrates with the security manager of the distributionpackage to provide anti-virus and spyware detection functions for mobiledevice. For example, even though the VPN handler operates as atransparent pass-through without tunneling packets through a VPNconnection, the VPN handler of mobile device 19A may locally requireactive, registered anti-virus and spyware software and up-to-date virusdefinitions before allowing packets to be communicated to serviceprovider network 20 via data flows 96.

In this way, a user of a mobile device may deploy and utilize themulti-service network client described herein either as an enterprisesolution, as strictly a consumer application without enterprise VPNconnectivity, or both. In either case, the VPN control applicationprovides a unified user interface and the internal VPN handler may beused to provide a front-end for routing inbound and outbound packetsthrough the other services, such as acceleration and security regardlessof whether the VPN handler is configured to establish a VPN connectionand tunnel the packets through the VPN connection. Further, theexecutables associated with the multi-service VPN client may be similaror even identical for the different deployments, with certainfunctionality disabled for the non-enterprise deployment. This may allowa user to convert the multi-service VPN client from a non-enterprisedeployment to an enterprise deployment and full VPN functionality bymerely entering a key or authentication code without requiringinstallation of addition executable software.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a front view of oneembodiment of mobile device 19. In this example, mobile phone includes atouch screen for presenting an interactive display 100 having aplurality of icons, each corresponding to a different user-launchableapplication. In this case, display 100 includes an icon 102 with which auser interacts to launch VPN control application 80.

FIG. 6 illustrates display 110 presented by VPN control application 80once launched. In this example, display 110 is presented in the nativeformat of mobile device 19 and, in the example embodiment, is not a webpage. As shown in FIG. 1, display 110 as a Home window for the user thatincludes seven icons that provide quick access for the user to commonfunctions, including an icon for accessing the enterprise intranet, anicon for accessing email, an icon for managing the VPN connection, anicon for signing into the enterprise, an icon for setting a current userprofile, an icon for viewing related logs and an icon for viewing“About” information for the VPN handler. In the case of FIG. 6, nocurrent profile has been selected for the user and no VPN session hasbeen created. That is, before they can connect, the user must select aserver to which connect. When VPN control application 80 is launched forthe first time no server will be selected. VPN control application 80allows the user to define profiles and, for each profile, specify anaddress for target server or security appliance (e.g., secure VPNgateway 12) for the profile. In addition, display 110 includes a statusbar 111 and an indicator light 112 that represents the status of whetherany VPN connection has been established.

FIG. 7A illustrates display 120 presented by VPN control application 80when the user elects to manage and ultimately select a user profile. Inthis example, display 120 lists two profiles (Test Profile, andCorporate Profile) and includes an input mechanism 122 that allows theuser to create a new user profile.

FIG. 7B illustrates display 125 presented by VPN control application 80when the user selects input mechanism 122 (FIG. 7A) and creates a newuser profile. In this example, the user is able to enter a profile nameand a URL or address associated with the target enterprise. In somecases the user may also select a particular digital certificate from alist of certificates installed on mobile device 19. VPN handler 68 usesthe selected certificate for user authentication when establishing theVPN connection with secure VPN gateway 12 associated with the specifiedaddress or URL.

FIG. 8A illustrates display 130 presented by VPN control application 80after the user has created and selected a user profile, i.e., AcmeGizmo, Inc., for quick VPN access. At this time, the user has not yetsigned in and a VPN connection has not yet been established. Display 130presents a Sign In icon for one-click initiation of the sign-in process.

FIG. 8B illustrates display 135 presented by VPN control application 80after the user has selected the Sign In icon of Home display 110 (FIG.6) to initiate the sign-in process using the Acme Gizmo, Inc. profile.In response, VPN handler 68 has initiated communication with secure VPNgateway 12 via HTTPS, which returns an HTML-based login page. In somecases, VPN control application 80 specifies a specific HTTP user agentin the HTTPS request during the login phase to signal to VPN gateway 12that the requesting device is a mobile device, thereby allowing VPNgateway 12 to select customized web-pages for the device. VPN controlapplication 80 parses data from the returned HTML source code andrenders display 135 within the native display of mobile device 19 topresent authentication input mechanisms.

FIG. 9A illustrates display 137 presented by VPN control application 80after VPN handler 68 has successfully authenticated the user logged intothe enterprise and established the VPN connection with VPN gateway 12.In this case, the administrator has defined a plurality of differentroles for the user. Moreover, each of the roles may be allow access to aspecific set of protected resources 14. To further increase security,the administrator may configure secure VPN gateway 12 to present all oronly an identified subset of the user's roles to the user when VPNaccess is being made through mobile device 19, which may be more readilystolen and compromised versus a home computer. In addition, theadministrator may be able to further refine the set of roles availableto the user based on position information received from mobile device 19at the time the VPN connection is established, where the positioninformation my comprise GPS coordinates of the mobile device, cellinformation identify a current cell, or a combination thereof Forexample, secure VPN gateway 12 may allow the administrator to definecertain geographic regions and assign those geographic regions a levelof trust. In addition, the administrator may specify a required level oftrust for a role to be made available to a user over the VPN connection,and the required level of trust can be specified on a per-user basis.From the overall roles for the user, secure VPN gateway 12 constructs aset of roles to be presented to the user by mobile device 19. Secure VPNgateway 12 may determine the set, for example, based on a level of trustassigned by the administrator for the geographic region in which mobiledevice 19 is currently positioned as well as any user-specific thresholdlevel of trust assigned by the administrator that must be met before agiven role is available for the particular user when using a mobiledevice. For example, the administrator may specify a level of trust of‘5’ (e.g., full trust) for the United States and ‘3’ (moderate trust)for a second geographic region that the administrator or enterprisepolicies deems more likely of a security risk. In addition, theadministrator may assign a required level of ‘5’ to an “administratorrole.” As such, those users eligible for the “administrator role” may bepresented with such an option when accessing secure VPN gateway 12within mobile device 19 from within the United States but not whenaccessing the secure VPN gateway from the second geographic region.

FIG. 9B illustrates display 140 presented by VPN control application 80as the Home after authentication and establishment of the VPN connectionwith VPN gateway 12. As such, indicator 112 is rendered to show theconnectivity state, and status bar 111 shows the user name and theelapsed connection time. In addition, the Sign In icon has been replacedwith a Sign Out icon that allows the user to terminate the VPNconnection.

FIG. 10 illustrates a display 150 presented by VPN control application80 when the user has selected the Sign Out icon from the Home screen.Once selected, the user is returned to the home screen and prompted forconfirmation.

FIG. 11 illustrates display 160 presented by VPN control application 80after the user has selected the VPN icon from Home display 110 (FIG. 6).As shown, display 150 presents certain configuration parameters for theestablishment of the VPN, such as whether to automatically establish theVPN connection upon authenticating to the enterprise and receiving anysession data. When automatic sign-in is disabled, VPN handler 68 doesnot create the VPN connection even though authentication has beencompleted. Instead, VPN handler 68 waits until application-layer datahas been received from either VPN control application 80 or other userapplications 82. In this way, fees and charges associated with datatransfer over cellular data services may be reduced. In addition, thenumber of open session VPN gateway 12 is required to maintain andservice may also be reduced.

Display 160 also presents current information associated with the VPNconnection, including a current number of bytes sent and a currentnumber of bytes received since the VPN connection was established. Inaddition, display 160 includes a Disconnect button that allows the userto terminate the VPN connection.

FIG. 12 illustrates display 170 presented by VPN control application 80after the user has selected the Intranet icon from display 110 (FIG. 6).As shown, display 160 represents a translated version of the user'sdefault home web page in a format that can be rendered by the VPNcontrol application. Moreover, VPN control application 80 presentsdisplay 170 rather than the display being presented as a web pagethrough a web browser installed on mobile device 19. When the userselects the Intranet icon from the native Home window of display 110,VPN control application 80 issues an HTTPS get request to retrieve theuser's bookmark web page (FIG. 3) that would normally be presented as afull web page to the user if the user where accessing VPN gateway 12 viaan endpoint computing device 18.

In this example, VPN control application 80 dynamically parses links andother bookmark information from the HTTPS response from secure VPNgateway 12 when accessing the home web page and dynamically builds awindow for display 160 on mobile device 19. In this way, display 170 isbuilt and presented as a display as part of VPN control application 80and not as a web page of a separate web browser installed on mobiledevice 19. That is, VPN control application 80 dynamically constructsdisplay 160 to include input controls that are native applicationcontrols provided by mobile device 19, where each of the input controlscorresponds to a different bookmark parsed from the HTML responsereceived from VPN gateway 12. As shown, VPN control application 80 hasdynamically constructed display 160 to include a set of input controls162 for the user-defined bookmarks and a second set of input controls164 that correspond to the administrator-defined bookmarks of the user'sdefault home web page (FIG. 3). Each of the bookmarks is represented byan input button graphic that is supported by the native display ofmobile device 19. In response, VPN control application 80 formulates andoutputs an appropriate HTTP string as if a corresponding HTML link wereselected by the user. Thus, bookmarks 162, 164 are not web-based URLs asnormally embedded in web pages, but operate as buttons on mobile device19 and serve the purpose of pseudo-links within the context of theenterprise VPN. Example links that can be translated and rendered onmobile device 19 include links to local file servers, a link to anintranet file server, a link for a pre-configured remote desktopterminal session for the user that may run over the VPN connection.

In one example, VPN control application 80 includes an internal HMTLparser and extraction of bookmark information is performed in real-timeusing combination of XPath queries on the HTML and processing logic onthe set of elements returned by the XPath query. Further details on theXML Path Language (XPath) can be found in “XML Path Language (XPath)”,Version 1.0, available from World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Nov. 16,1999, the entire content of which is incorporate herein by reference.

In one example, VPN control application 80 retrieves the bookmark webpage by issuing a direct request for an index.cgi file for theparticular VPN user. Next, VPN control application 80 parses theresponse from VPN gateway 12 with its internal HTML parser using thefollowing search algorithm to extract the bookmarks' URLs and titles.First, in the HTML returned by index.cgi, VPN control application 80issues XPath queries to locate all anchor elements with href attributeswhich contain “launch.cgi.” In one example, this is achieved by thefollowing XPath query: //a[contains(@href, ‘launch.cgi’)]. Next, on theset of elements returned by the above criteria, VPN control application80 iterates over all children and extracts bookmark captions from theelements with simple string content.

The following is an example excerpt from HTML of index.cgi showing thecode related to a single bookmark:

<table cellpadding=“0” cellspacing=“0” border=“0” width=“100%”> <trvalign=“top”> <td> <table cellpadding=“4” cellspacing=“0” border=“0”width=“100%”> <tr valign=“top”> <td> <ahref=“/user/home/launch.cgi?url=.ahuvs%3A%2F%2FGiry66r6zEY15F.DHaPTsLZZ%2FCO%2FPCBUSKWcqNaUU”> <imgsrc=“/dana-cached/imgs/icn18x18WebBookmark.gif” alt=“This bookmark willopen in this window” width=“18” height=“18” border=“0”> </a> </td> <tdwidth=“100%”> <ahref=“/user/home/launch.cgi?url=.ahuvs%3A%2F%2FGiry66r6zEY15F.DHaPTsLZZ%2FCO%2FPCBUSKWcqNaUU”>AcmeGizmo Intranet : Security Guidelines</a><br><span class=“cssSmall”>Sample Bookmark description</span>  </td> </tr> </table>  </td>  <td align=“right”> <table cellpadding=“0”cellspacing=“0” border=“0”>  <tr>  <td colspan=“6”><imgsrc=“/dana-cached/imgs/space.gif ” width=“1” height=“1”></td>  </tr> <tr>  <td bgcolor=“#EEEEEE”> <ahref=“/user/home/launch.cgi?url=.ahuvs%3A%2F%2FGiry66r6zEY15F.DHaPTsLZZ%2FCO%2FPCBUSKWcqNaUU” target=“_blank”onclick=‘JavaScript:openBookmark(this.href, “yes”, “yes”);returnfalse;’>  <img src=“/dana-cached/imgs/btnPanelPopWindow.gif ” alt=“Openin a new window” title=“Open in a new window” width=“20” height=“20”border=“0”> </a>  </td>  <td bgcolor=“#CCCCCC”><img src=“/dana-cached/imgs/space.gif ” width=“1” height=“1”></td>  <tdbgcolor=“#EEEEEE”>  <a href=“/user/home/editbk.cgi?row=2&syncFlag=1”title=“Edit”>  <img src=“/dana-cached/imgs/btnPanelItemPrefs.gif”alt=“Item Properties” title=“Item Properties” width=“20” height=“20”border=“0”>  </a>  </td>  <td bgcolor=“#EEEEEE”> <ahref=“/user/home/panelpref.cgi?val=0&delete=1&type=web&xsauth=ec4a8685edbee9c2cbc9438de6c5066e&syncFlag=1” title=“Edit”>  <imgsrc=“/dana-cached/imgs/btnPanelItemDelete.gif” alt=“Delete bookmark”title=“Delete bookmark” width=“20” height=“20” border=“0”> </a> </td><td><img src=“/dana-cached/imgs/space.gif” width=“1” height=“1”> </td></tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table>VPN control application 80 extracts the actual URL of each bookmark fromthe anchor href attribute. VPN control application 80 eliminates anyduplicates which can occur due to icon links in the HTML.

Having found the anchor element for the bookmark, VPN controlapplication 80 locates the corresponding description by getting allsibling elements of that anchor and finding the one which has simplestring content. In the HTML example snippet given, this would be the<span> element with a content of “Sample Bookmark description”.

VPN control application 80 is able to distinguish custom bookmarks basedon the presence of the additional link for editing them. These links canbe found enumerating the anchor items which have editbk.cgi in theirhref attribute. This can be done with the following XPath query://a[contains(@href, ‘editbk.cgi’)]

For example, the following links may be extracted as bookmarks:

https://secure.acmegizmo.com/dana/home/launch.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fintranet.acmegizmo.com

https://secure.acmegizmo.com/dana/home/launch.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fintranet.acmegizmo.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Fdbpro.cgi

https://secure.acmegizmo.com/dana/home/launch.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fag-exchange3.acmegizmo.com%2Fexchange%2F

https://secure.acmegizmo.com/dana/home/launch.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fintranet.acmegizmo.com%2Fit%2Fsecurity.html

Having only one anchor element containing editbk.cgi in href attribute,VPN control application 80 determines the first three are standardbookmarks and the last one is custom one set by the user.

When a user selects a bookmark from the native UI displayed by VPNcontrol application 80, the VPN control application opened it is openedin an embedded browser control that is hidden from the user. The browseris navigated directly to the URL extracted for the given bookmark andmay be presented to the user as a web page via a browser or maydynamically processed into the native display of mobile device 19.

In some case, VPN control application 80 looks for a speciallyconfigured bookmark with the following example name: “Mobile Webmail.”If such a bookmark exists, the Email icon (FIG. 6) will launch aweb-based email in a browser, opening the Mobile Webmail bookmark link.Alternatively, instead of launching a web browser, VPN handler 68 maylaunch a native email application provided by mobile device 19.

VPN control application 80 allows an administrator to define a custompage to be displayed instead of the standard bookmarks page. VPN controlapplication 80 detects whether the bookmarks page has been returned byVPN gateway 12 or not. If a custom page is being opened as part of thestandard flow, then VPN control application 80 displays this custom pagein place dynamically constructing the native user interface forbookmarks.

FIG. 13 illustrates display 170 presented by VPN control application 80after the user has toggled from the bookmark view (FIG. 12) to a view ofa history of previously selected pseudo-links.

FIG. 14 illustrates display 185 presented by VPN control application 80after the user has selected the LOGS icon from display 110 (FIG. 6). Asshown, display 185 presents a transaction window 187 for listingactivity related to the VPN connection including date and time stampsfor each action. In some cases, VPN control application 80 may alsoprovide input mechanisms that allow the user to upload the log to secureVPN gateway 12 or automatically attaching them to email for emailingthem to an administrative email address specified by secure VPN gateway12. This may provide an easy and efficient mechanism by which the usercan obtain assistance with setting up the VPN connection on his or hermobile device 19.

In some embodiments, VPN handler 68 may utilize a form of compressionwhen communicating with VPN gateway 12 over the VPN tunnel. That is, VPNhandler 68 may compress the application-layer data within the carried bythe payloads of the tunneled packets. After compressing the data, VPNhandler 68 encrypts and encapsulates the data to form secure packets fortunneling to VPN gateway 12. This allows VPN handler 68 to reduce theamount of bandwidth consumed by the VPN connection, which may beimportant in a mobile environment.

In one embodiment, VPN handler 68 includes algorithms for applyingLempel-Ziv (LZ) compression in conjunction with an IPSEC connection totunnel encrypted IP packets, i.e., Encapsulation Security Payload (ESP)packets, on top of a connection-less protocol, e.g., IP or User DatagramProtocol (UDP), to VPN gateway 12. In this case, UDP is used as thetransport layer for with use of LZ compression integrated with IPSEC forcompressing and securing outbound tunneled packets and for decompressinginbound tunneled packets.

In some embodiment, VPN handler 68 supports both SSL and IPSec protocolsis programmed to intelligently and dynamically switch between the twodepending upon the state of the VPN connection to VPN gateway 12.

VPN handler 68 handles interaction and authentication to VPN gateway 12,establishment and deconstructing of a secure data connection conformingto a security scheme, such as SSL or IPSec protocols, and the formationof outbound packets to be tunneled and the processing of inbound packetsreceived from the tunnel.

That is, in some cases, VPN handler 68 may establish an IPSec VPN may beestablished to tunnel encrypted IP packets on top of a connection-lessprotocol, e.g., IP or User Datagram Protocol (UDP). In other cases, VPNhandler 68 may use and SSL VPN to tunnel IP packets on top of a Layer 4connection-oriented protocol, e.g., Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).That is, VPN handler 68 recognizes that TCP inherently introduceslatency with SSL VPN tunnel relative to IP SEC over UDP, yet in somecases may provide connectivity through firewalls that typicallyrecognize SSL packets but block UDP packets. For this reason, VPNhandler 68 may be programmed to adaptively failover between an L3-basedIPSEC network tunnel using UDP as a transport protocol and an L4-basedSSL network tunnel that uses TCP as a transport.

For example, in some embodiment, VPN handler 68 may first establish theVPN connection ton include an SSL VPN tunnel by performing a keyexchange with secure VPN gateway 12. In this case, VPN handler 68 mayencapsulate initial application-layer data within a SSL encrypted packetstream flowing on through the SSL VPN tunnel between the mobile device19 and the secure VPN gateway 12. Although an SSL VPN tunnel can operatein most remote network environments including firewalls and proxies,tunneling packets on top of the connection oriented TCP inherentlyintroduces latency, complexity and potentially increased bandwidth, allof which may be of significant concern in a mobile environment.Therefore, VPN handler 68 may also establish a parallel IPSec VPN tunnelwith secure VPN gateway 12 for the VPN connection while simultaneouslysending the any initial data packets on SSL VPN tunnel. VPN handler 68may send test messages, i.e., discovery packets, over the IPSEC VPNtunnel in parallel with sending data over the SSL VPN tunnel. If VPNhandler 68 receives a reply to the test messages on IPSec VPN tunnel 62,VPN handler 68 stops sending data on the SSL VPN tunnel and insteadautomatically (e.g., without manual intervention) utilizes to IPSec VPNtunnel. At this point, VPN handler 68 may tear down the SSL VPN tunnelor, in many cases, may leave the SSL connection established. In thisway, if the remote network environment changes and the data packets canno longer reach the corporate network on the IPSec VPN tunnel, VPNhandler 68 automatically (e.g., without manual intervention) returns tothe SSL VPN tunnel. In some embodiments, VPN handler 68 may use a singleIP address assigned to mobile device 19 by secure VPN gateway 12 for theVPN for both of the tunnels and effectively dynamically change the typeof transport layer protocol (e.g., TCP or UDP) of the operating systemand the security service (e.g., IP SEC and SSL) applied to tunneledpackets. In some embodiments, VPN handler 68 and secure VPN gateway 12may operate in accordance with the techniques set forth in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/226,501, filed Sep. 14, 2005, entitled “ADAPTIVEFAILOVER BETWEEN LAYER THREE AND LAYER FOUR NETWORK TUNNELS,” the entirecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

In some cases, the adaptive transition between SSL and IPSEC VPNconnections by VPN handler 68 may be particularly advantageous in mobiledevice 19 because, in some cases, operating system 64 may already beusing UDP ports associated with IP SEC. In this case, an IPSEC VPNconnection by a higher-level VPN handler 68 (e.g., a VPN handlerexecuting in kernel mode) may have IP SEC communications consumed orotherwise blocked by operating system 64 since the operating system mayincorrectly operate as if the IP SEC packets are to be processed by theoperating system. In such cases, VPN handler 68 may establish the VPNconnection and initially utilize SSL and automatically transition froman SSL tunnel with TCP transport (e.g., an L4 tunnel) to the an IPSECtunnel with UDP transport (e.g., an L3 tunnel) without terminating theVPN connection only when the UDP network ports associated with the L3tunnel are unblocked by the operating system. As such, the techniquesdescribed herein allow VPN handler 68 to be easily downloaded, installedand deployed on mobile device 19 without requiring user intervention asto the tunneling mechanism that is compatible with the lower-leveloperating system-level components of the mobile device.

Some embodiments of VPN handler 68 perform a fast reconnect in the eventcommunication with secure VPN gateway 12 is temporarily lost. Morespecifically, establishes an SSL control channel by issuing an HTTPSrequest to secure VPN gateway 12. Upon a successful authentication,secure VPN gateway 12 provides a session cookie with a unique identifierthat the secure VPN gateway maps to specific user information. Thisallows VPN handler 68 in the event the VPN connection is temporarilylost. This may be especially important on mobile devices due toconstantly changing network conditions such as transition between basestations, switching between a wireless local area network (“WiFi”) andcellular packet-based network connections, and power state transitions.In the event the status of the network connection has changed by mobiledevice 19, O/S interface 66 may set a semaphore or other signalingmechanism to signal the change. In response, VPN handler 68 issuesanother HTTPS request and includes the session cookie, which allows theVPN handler to re-establish the VPN connection with secure VPN gateway12 without requiring the user repeat the typical authentication process.In some cases, VPN handler 68 determines which type of transportmechanism is available, WiFi or cellular, to mobile device 19. In theevent only a cellular packet-based network connection is available andnot the WiFi connection, VPN handler 68 may selectively defer fastreconnect even though a valid, unexpired session cookie exists on mobiledevice 19. In particular, VPN handler 68 may defer fast reconnect untilapplication-layer data is received from user applications 82. In somecases, VPN handler 68 defers fast VPN reconnect until receiving anotherevent from O/S interface 66 indicating that network traffic is pendingor has been initiated by user applications 82. In this way, VPN handler68 may potentially reduce user fees associated with minutes or bandwidthconsumption for data services that may arise with an established yetidle VPN connection.

FIG. 15 is an example user interface 190 presented by secure VPN gateway12 by which an administrator is able to provide a variety ofconfiguration parameters for administering secure access to endpointcomputing devices 18 and cellular mobile devices 19. In particular, userinterface 190 allows the administrator to enter configuration data withrespect to endpoint compliance functions and host checker functions Asshown in FIG. 16, user interface 190 includes a check box input control192 by which an administrator is able to specify a host checkerrequirement related to security manager 84. That is, the administratoris able to specify that a pre-requisite to authorizing secure access tothe enterprise is that the health status report generated by theintegrated host checker functions of the multi-service client for themobile device 19 must indicate that anti-virus and spyware software forsecurity manager 84 are registered, enabled and up-to-date. In not,secure VPN gateway may deny access or provide quarantined access tolimited resources required to download any out-of-date securitycomponent to mobile device 19.

The techniques described in this disclosure may be implemented, at leastin part, in hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. Forexample, various aspects of the described techniques may be implementedwithin one or more processors, including one or more microprocessors,digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or any otherequivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry, as well as anycombinations of such components. The term “processor” or “processingcircuitry” may generally refer to any of the foregoing logic circuitry,alone or in combination with other logic circuitry, or any otherequivalent circuitry. A control unit comprising hardware may alsoperform one or more of the techniques of this disclosure.

Such hardware, software, and firmware may be implemented within the samedevice or within separate devices to support the various operations andfunctions described in this disclosure. In addition, any of thedescribed units, modules or components may be implemented together orseparately as discrete but interoperable logic devices. Depiction ofdifferent features as modules or units is intended to highlightdifferent functional aspects and does not necessarily imply that suchmodules or units must be realized by separate hardware or softwarecomponents. Rather, functionality associated with one or more modules orunits may be performed by separate hardware or software components, orintegrated within common or separate hardware or software components.

The techniques described in this disclosure may also be embodied orencoded in a computer-readable medium, such as a computer-readablestorage medium, containing instructions. Instructions embedded orencoded in a computer-readable medium may cause a programmableprocessor, or other processor, to perform the method, e.g., when theinstructions are executed. Computer readable storage media may includerandom access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable readonly memory (PROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM),electronically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flashmemory, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a cassette, magneticmedia, optical media, or other computer-readable storage media. Itshould be understood that the term “computer-readable storage media”refers to physical storage media, and not signals or carrier waves,although the term “computer-readable media” may include transient mediasuch as signals, in addition to physical storage media.

Various embodiments of the invention have been described. These andother embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.

1. A cellular mobile device comprising: a transmitter and receiver tosend and receive cellular communications in the form of radio frequencysignals; a microprocessor; an operating system executing on themicroprocessor to provide an operating environment of applicationsoftware; a multi-service virtual private network (VPN) clientregistered with the operating system as a single application, whereinthe multi-service network client comprises: a VPN handler to establish aVPN connection with a remote VPN security device, wherein the VPNhandler encrypts outbound network packets and decrypts inbound networkpackets to securely tunnel the network packets between the cellularmobile device and the remote VPN security device; a data accelerationmodule that exchanges network packets with the VPN handler and appliesat least one acceleration service to the network packets; and a VPNcontrol application that provides a unified user interface that allows auser to configure the VPN handler and the data acceleration module. 2.The cellular mobile device of claim 1, wherein the multi-service networkclient further comprises a security manager to receive the decryptedinbound network packets from the VPN handler and apply at least onesecurity service to the decrypted network packets;
 3. The cellularmobile device of claim 1, wherein the multi-service network clientcomprises a single distribution package.
 4. The cellular mobile deviceof claim 1, wherein the VPN control application presents a unified userinterface for configuring anti-virus settings and personal firewallsettings of the security manager.
 5. The cellular mobile device of claim1, wherein the security manager applies anti-virus and spyware servicesto the network packets, wherein the security manager provides aninterface by which the VPN handler determines whether a user of thecellular mobile device has activated and registered the securitymanager, and wherein the VPN handler requires an affirmative indicationfrom the security manager prior to establishing the VPN connection withthe VPN gateway.
 6. The cellular mobile device of claim 1, wherein theVPN handler comprises a host checker module that inventories a state ofthe cellular mobile device and builds a health status report, andwherein the host checker outputs the health status report to the VPNgateway prior to establishing the VPN connection for determining whetherthe cellular mobile device is compliant with corporate policies.
 7. Thecellular mobile device of claim 1, wherein the data acceleration moduleprovides a local content cache.
 8. The cellular mobile device of claim1, wherein the data acceleration module provides a client-sidedecompression service that operates in conjunction with an upstreamacceleration device to provide real-time, continuous pattern recognitionand compression of data flows within the network packets.
 9. Thecellular mobile device of claim 1, wherein the data acceleration moduleprovides application-specific protocol optimization for control flowswithin the network packets.
 10. The cellular mobile device of claim 1,wherein the multi-service network client further comprises one or morecollaboration components that process the packets from the VPN handler,wherein collaboration components provide collaboration servicesincluding at least one of a network meeting, a secure desktop or adocument sharing service.
 11. The cellular mobile device of claim 1,wherein the VPN control application provides a user interface thatallows a user to disable VPN connectivity, and wherein, when VPNconnectivity is disabled, the VPN handler exchanges the network packetswith the operating system and transparently provides the packets to thesecurity manager for application of the security service.
 12. Thecellular mobile device of claim 1, wherein the user interface of the VPNcontrol applications allows the user to submit credentials and instructthe VPN handler to dynamically instantiate the secure VPN connection ordeconstruct an existing VPN connection.
 13. The cellular mobile deviceof claim 1, wherein upon establishing the VPN connection the VPN controlapplication receives a web-based home page from the secure VPN devicevia an Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) response, wherein thesecure VPN connection dynamically parses HyperText Markup Language(HTML) bookmark links from the HTTPS response and renders a bookmarkwindow using input controls native to the cellular mobile device, whereeach of the input controls corresponds to a different one of thebookmarks parsed from the HTML response received from the secure VPNgateway, and wherein, upon selection of one of the input controls, theVPN control application formulates and outputs an appropriate HTTPstring to the secure VPN device as if a corresponding HTML link wereselected by the user.
 14. The cellular mobile device of claim 13,wherein the VPN control application detects a bookmark within the HTMLresponse that corresponding to a webmail for the user, and wherein, upondetecting the bookmark for the webmail, the VPN control applicationdynamically constructs the user interface to have an input control forlaunching a native email client of the cellular mobile device to accessthe email without launching a web browser.
 15. The cellular mobiledevice of claim 1, wherein the VPN handler and the VPN controlapplication are configured to be independently upgradable.
 16. Thecellular mobile device of claim 1, wherein the VPN handler establishesthe VPN connection as an Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) connectionover User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and wherein the VPN handler includesa compression module that applies Lempel-Ziv (LZ) compression inconjunction with the IPSec connection to tunnel encrypted IP packets tothe secure VPN gateway.
 17. The cellular mobile device of claim 1,wherein the VPN handler establishes an Secure Socket Layer (SSL) controlchannel with the secure VPN gateway and, upon a successfulauthentication, receives a session cookie with a unique identifier,wherein, in the event communication with the secure VPN gateway istemporarily lost, the VPN handler performs a fast reconnect by issuingthe session cookie to the secure VPN gateway, and wherein, whenperforming the fast reconnect, the VPN handler identifies a set oftransport mechanisms currently available to the cellular mobile deviceand, when only a cellular network is available and not a wirelesspacket-based connection, the VPN handler defers the fast reconnect untilapplication-layer data is received from a user application and ready tobe sent via the VPN connection.
 18. A system comprising: a virtualprivate network (VPN) security device coupled to a packet network; acellular mobile device comprising a microprocessor, an operating systemexecuting on the microprocessor to provide an operating environment ofapplication software, and a multi-service network client registered withthe operating system as a single application, wherein the multi-servicenetwork client comprises: a VPN handler to exchange network packets withthe operating system, wherein the VPN handler establishes a VPNconnection with a remote VPN security device of an enterprise andprocesses to network packets for tunneling between the cellular mobiledevice and the remote VPN security device; and a security manager toreceive the network packets from the VPN handler and apply at least onesecurity service to the network packets, a VPN control application thatprovides a unified user interface that allows a user to configure boththe VPN handler and the security manager, wherein the secure VPN devicepresents an interface by which an administrator defines a plurality ofdifferent roles for the user, wherein upon authenticating the user, thesecure VPN device selects a subset of the roles for the user, andwherein the secure VPN device controls access to one or more protectedresources by the user based on the selected subset of the roles.
 19. Amethod comprising: receiving, with a cellular mobile device from anelectronic repository, a single distribution software package thatincludes a multi-service network client, wherein the multi-servicenetwork client includes a virtual private network (VPN) handler, a dataacceleration module that exchanges network packets with the VPN handlerand applies at least one acceleration service to the network packets,and a VPN control application that provides a unified user interfacethat allows a user to configure both the VPN handler and the securitymanager; and installing the multi-service network client on the cellularmobile device including registering the VPN handler with an operatingsystem of the cellular mobile device, wherein the VPN handler provides asingle point of entry for network packets from the operating system toapply VPN services with the VPN handler and security services with thesecurity manager.
 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:establishing, with the VPN handler, a VPN connection with a remote VPNsecurity device of an enterprise; and exchanging network packets betweenthe VPN handler the operating system for communication via the VPNconnection.
 21. The method of claim 20, further comprising: processingthe network packets with the VPN handler to tunnel the packets betweenthe cellular mobile device and the remote VPN security device over theVPN connection; and while processing the packets with the VPN handler,routing the packets to the security manager and applying at least onesecurity service to the network packets with the security manager.
 22. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing a downloadabledistribution package comprising software program code to execute amulti-service network client on a processor within a cellular device,wherein the multi-service network client comprises: a virtual privatenetwork (VPN) handler to establish a VPN connection with a remote VPNsecurity device, wherein the VPN handler encrypts outbound networkpackets and decrypts inbound network packets to securely tunnel thenetwork packets between the cellular mobile device and the remote VPNsecurity device; a data acceleration module that exchanges networkpackets with the VPN handler and applies at least one accelerationservice to the network packets; and a VPN control application thatprovides a unified user interface that allows a user to configure boththe VPN handler and the data acceleration module.
 23. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the multi-servicenetwork client further comprises a security manager to receive thedecrypted inbound network packets from the VPN handler and apply atleast one security service to the decrypted network packets.